2 I The Behrend Beacon
Russia tests "dad of all bombs"
MOSCOW, Russia: The Russian titilitary
has successfully tested what may be the
most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever pro
duced, Russian television and news sources
report.
The unveiling of the new weapon comes
about a year after the U.S. unveiled its
Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB),
which was subsequently nicknamed the
"mother of all bombs." The new. Russian
weapon is the explosive equivalent of 44
tons of TNT, more than four times as power
ful as the U.S. weapon, even though it is ,
somewhat lighter that the American version.
Russian officials claim that the drastic new
increase in yield is due to the thermobaric
nature of the weapon, which means that it
disperses finely powdered or liquefied
explosives into the air before detonation,
allowing the fuel and oxygen to mix and
causing a very rapid and powerful explosion.
They also claim a new, classified explosive
material.
Behrend
new nursing degree
By Michelle Quail
staff writer
mlssool psu.edu
It may appear as if some students
on the Behrend campus are already
exhausted. This may have something
to do with the new, rigorous nursing
program that Behrend added to its cur
riculum for the fall semester.
The birth of a new nursing pro
gram has attracted 41 of "best and
brightest" here at Penn State Behrend.
An excited Joanne Carrick, Nursing
Program Coordinator, reported that
students enrolled have already received
impressive results from their National
Academic Profile Test, as Behrend stu
dents as a whole scored over six per
cent higher than the average score of
the already existing nursing programs.
Carrick, who is in her 19th year with
the Penn State Nursing Program came
to Behrend from the Shenango campus,
and has waited two years for the pro
gram to get started here. She noted
that our very own Behrend campus was
the winning candidate to receive the
program due to the strong Science and
Humanities departments, persistent
community requests, and general suc
cess as a branch campus.
The program currently consists of
four semesters and ends sending each
graduating student off with an
Associate Degree and a Registered
Nursing License. The program is also
expected to offer Baccalaureate
Degrees, which will only include 28
more credits in the program and some
general education courses. The nurs
ing students are expected to have at
Source: ClkiN.an, YEftvi News
now offering
least a 3.0 GPA for entry, and continue
the program with a very competitive
approach. They also need to partici
pate in Clinicals, which are hands-on
hospital jobs. Each student is to attend
Clinicals two days per week for four
hours, beginning at 7 a.m. The combi
nation of long days of Clinicals and
heavy work loads leave many nursing
students looking noticeably spent from
all of their arduous efforts. April
Glasser, a sophomore in her first year
of nursing, said, "I love it and hate it at
the same time. Nursing is my dream
and I am motivated to work hard and
achieve my goals, but the program is so
demanding. I often have to make a
choice whether to go to bed early so I
can perform my best at clinicals or go
out with my friends."
Carrick is certainly looking forward
to offering a half million dollars worth
of the newest technology for the stu
dents to utilize for practice. "Since we
are a brand new program, we have
brand new dummies to practice on, and
I am really excited to start working
with them. They are like people and
can do pretty much anything but walk
and talk," said Carrick. The program is
expected to grow immensely within the
next few years with a predicted 100
new students enrolling each year.
Carrick, as the coordinator, is encour
aging any students who are interested
in the program to stop by the Career
Center in the Reed Union Building and
see Terrie Mando-Smith about the pro
gram enrollment process.
The resulting weapon, though non-nuclear,
is so powerful that it levels structures and
forms its own mushroom cloud, but does not
have the long-term environmental effects of
radiological weapons.
"The tests have shown that the new air
delivered ordnance is comparable to a
nuclear weapon in, its efficiency and capabil
ity," said Colonel-General Alexander
Ruloshin, a member of the Russian General
Staff.
the American weapon, it is also
delivered wittily by modem bomber craft.
"We have got a relatively cheap ordnance
with a high strike power," said Yuri Balyko,
head of a Defense Ministry's institute in
charge of weapons design.
Russian officials have not yet released the
real name or other specific data about the
bomb.
r7l \/7
General Patraeus:
drawl possible by
By Scott R. Muska
student life editor
srmsoB2@psu.edu
David Petraeus, the United States
Army General in charge of the war in
Iraq, began his long-awaited testimony
on Sept. 10 in the nation's Capitol. He necessary.
was to give a progress report on Iraq, tration." "There is in some corners a belief
with a focus on the possible withdraw-
Democrat Senate Majority Leader, that we can simply turn the page in
al of troops and a timeline in which it
Harry Reid of Nevada, voiced his opin- Iraq, come home, and move on to other
would happen. ion on the war. "Our enemies around things. This is dangerously wrong. If
Petraeus made the claim that troop the globe gain great advantage by hay- we surrender in Iraq, we will be back
withdrawals were indeed possible, and
ing the United States mired in an Iraqi —in Iraq and elsewhere —in many
civil war," he said. "The longer we more desperate fights to protect our
his testimony contained a plan to possi
keep over 130,000 troops in Iraq, the security and at an even greater cost in
bly withdraw up to 30,000 combat
troops by July of 2008. He was American lives and treasure,"
* , McCain said, "I believe we cannot
hesitant to commit fully to his plan,
afford to choose to lose the war in
though, saying, "I would be doing a
Iraq, and I will do anything in my
disservice to our soldiers if I set a
power to give the commanders the
definite timeline for withdrawal."
21% time that they say they need."
The testimony immediately 7 7 4 •
There have been speculations
sparked a great deal of controversy
„ix that Petraeus' report on the war
in the Senate between the
was influenced by the Bush admin-
Republicans and Democrats, who ,
both have had opportunities to grill istration, namely the President
himself and Vice President Dick
the General and to speak out on
a , Cheney. There was a full page
how they feel about his testimony.
advertisement in the New York
There has already been a great deal
Times that attacked the general's
of disagreement, with some liberals
intergrity and credibility, alleging
voicing their dissatisfaction with
that he was doing the bidding of
the delay in troop withdrawal, and
the President. It was posted by
Moveon.org, an anti-war group.
Petraeus defended himself by
maintaining that all of his deci
sions and opinions included in his
their overall opposition to the war
in any respect. They focused large
ly on their opinion that very few
the goals have been achieved dur
ing the war, and that victory is not
Tort were come upon independ
plausible.
ently. "I wrote this testimony
The House Speaker, Nanci
myself. It has not been cleared by
Pelosi, said in a statement, "Today,
nor shared with anyone in the
despite overwhelming evidence
Pentagon, the White House or the
that neither goal has been achieved,
Congress," he said.
General Petraeus testified that the
surge would last at least until next Duncan Hunter, a California
Republican Representative, came
summer. This is simply unaccept
to Petraeus' defense saying that
able." She went on to say, "The
Petraeus "is going to testify with
President's strategy in Iraq has :0
an independent, candid view, the
failed. It is time to change the mis
sion of our troops to one that will General Patraeus speaks to an audience in one of his one thing we expect from all of
promote regional stability and many press conferences. our military officers." He went on
combat terrorism, so that the num-
to verbally attack Representative
Ike Skelton of Missouri, who had open
bers of our brave men and women in
uniform in Iraq can be reduced on a
much more aggressive timetable than
the one outlined today by General
Petraeus."
Illinois Senator and presidential
hopeful Barack Obama also voiced his
disapproval of the continued troop
surge and pushed for an abrupt end to
the war. "There are no good options.
There are only bad options and worse
options," Obama said to Petraeus dur
ing the second day of hearings on Sept.
11. A large focus in Obama's campaign
is the conclusion of the war and an
r`J
Powerful earthquake
rocks Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia: City buildings and
homes were evacuated Wednesday after an
earthquake with a magnitude of roughly 8.2
caused the ground to shake noticeably in
Indonesia.
Government officials in Indonesia and India
were also quick to issue tsunami warnings in a
region that had already be devastated previously
by the infamous 2004 earthquake and tsunami
incident. However, the otherwise massive
quake only produced a two-foot wave, sparing
many areas of the Indian and Pacific oceans
from renewed flooding and loss of life.
The epicenter of the quake was detected in
Sumatra, about 375 miles northwest of Jakarta.
The origin of the quake, near a landmass instead
of deep water, is thought to have helped reduce
the magnitude of the following tsunami.
Many workers in Indonesia stayed in their
swaying high-rises and office buildings until
evacuation orders were received from govern
ment officials.
"I was up on the 16th floor of a skyscraper.
heard the blinds flapping and the windows first
improved foreign policy that will result
in peace and stability.
He also said to General Petraeus and
The US, ambassador of Iraq, Ryan
Crocker that, "This is not a criticism of
efther of you gentlemen. This is a crit
icism of this President and his adminis-
less incentive Iraqis have to engage in
the needed political reconciliation and
the longer we avoid dealing with sever
al pressing threats to our national secu
rity, namely that Osama bin Laden
remains at large." His standing is often
mirrored in a country where over 60
percent of the nation doesn't support
the war, according to a recent CNN
poll.
The Republicans were also able to
use this platform to reiterate their
stances on the nation's involvement in
Iraq. They expressed that there should
be no timetable for withdrawal and that
there could still be a definite victory in
Friday, September 14, 2007
and the chairs were shaking and everything,"
said John Aglionby, an employee of the
Financial Times. "I realized that we had to get
out."
John Applegate of the United States
Geological Survey said that the depth of the
quake, which occurred only 19 miles below the
surface, can have a large effect on the impact of
the quake.
"With a deep earthquake, the waves have to
travel through a lot of the earth before they
reach population. A shallow earthquake means
the local population is right there," Applegate
explained. "It also means that it is more likely
to rupture the surface, and with this being a sub
sea earthquake, that means there is the tsunami
potential."
Geologists are now closely monitoring the sit
uation for aftershocks and the possibility that
the first quake could trigger other earthquakes
or increased volcanic activity.
troop with-
July 2008
the war
Presidential hopeful and Arizona
Senator John McCain severely con
trasted the comments made by the
Democrats by agreeing with Petraeus
and Crocker. He feels that the war is
ly questioned Petraeus' honesty.
"We've asked you for an independent
assessment, and frankly, Mr. Chairman,
the idea that we have spent the last
week prepping the battlefield by attack
ing the credibility of the messenger is
something that I think goes against the
tradition of this great House," he said.
Bush is expected to take the advice of
Petraeus and announce a troop with
drawal of about 30,000 troops from
Iraq by next summer. This will put an
end to the troop surge that he ordered in
January to help stabilize Iraq.